Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris MAISON DE L’INDE 7 (R) Bd Jourdan – 75014 PARIS Tél. : 01.53.80.78.00 Fax : 01.53.80.79.25 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.maisondelinde.com

January, 2009

News from the Maison de l’Inde (India House) Vol. 10 No. 1, January, 2009 (Report of Activities during October - December, 2008)

1. Introduction: Maison de l’Inde, its origin and mission (1):

Maison de l’Inde is more than just a residence for academic scholars. It serves as a symbol of India in one of the greatest centres of the world. The Maison de l’Inde (India House) is a part of the ‘Cité internationale universitaire de Paris’ (CIUP, International University City of Paris, also called Cité U) located in the calm and beautiful southern part of Paris. The CIUP has thirty seven such houses in two categories. The houses in the first category are called ‘rattachées’ (attached) which are administered and maintained by the Council of the CIUP with limited amount of autonomy depending upon the contribution of the respective countries. The houses in the second category are called ‘non-rattachées’ (non-attached) which are completely autonomous while respectful of the rules and regulations of the CIUP and the Government of France. The countries which have built such houses pay grants/subsidies for their maintenance and renovations. There are fourteen attached houses and twenty three non attached houses. The Maison de l’Inde is in the non-attached category.

The CIUP was set up in 1925 with the objectives of promoting institutional relationship with the different countries, providing accommodation to students, researchers, visiting professors and cultural representatives of foreign countries at a modest price and at the best possible living conditions, creating an international atmosphere in the CIUP (there are about 5500 residents from 130 countries on the campus), promoting intercultural dialogue, respect for different cultures and practising a ‘culture of peace’. It is dedicated to the ideal of the unity in diversity of mankind, to making the residents aware of the richness of the cultures of the world and of the need for intercultural appreciation and understanding.

The Government of India found an excellent opportunity to meet its own aspirations of academic co-operation and expose its cultural heritage to the international community of the CIUP. It approached the French authorities to build the Maison de l’Inde with the following missions: ______

(1) Those who have read earlier reports may skip this section and go straight to the section on « Activities » on page 3.

1 (1) To provide modest but reasonably comfortable accommodation to its academic and cultural scholars in company with their foreign counterparts

(2) To expose to the international community its spiritual and secular values

(3) To create an awareness among the international community of its own cultural riches

(4) To promote international solidarity and understanding and finally

(5) To work closely with the ideals of the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP) based on the principles of equity, justice, fraternity and freedom, the pillars of the Constitution of the Republic of India.

The then Ambassador signed the deed of the gift of the Maison de l’Inde to the University of Paris on 17 June, 1960. The late Professor Humayun Kabir, the then Minister of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs laid the foundation stone on the same day. The Maison started functioning in 1967 (but officially opened on 6 June, 1968) with 104 single rooms fitted with modest furniture for academic work and simple living and a wash basin (a telephone, a refrigerator (since July, 2000) and internet connection (since April, 2002) were added later). Kitchen (fitted with microwave oven, since April, 2000) with dining facilities (since May, 2002), toilettes and shower facilities are on the hall. There is a meeting hall and some other facilities. There is a block reserved for female scholars. The Maison provides an unfurnished Director’s residence, where the kitchen is equipped. The Director is nominated jointly by the Rector of the Academy of Paris and the President of the National Foundation on the recommendation of the Governing Board of the Maison. The Director is honorary but has a modest indemnity. It was given the status of a non-attached house. It has a Governing Board which is chaired by the Ambassador of India. The house has a great potential for promoting Indian culture and Indo-French co-operation by upgrading the living conditions to attract high level academic, cultural, government and business officials by making minor adjustments in the existing living places.

The Potential of the Maison

After renovation and some adjustments in the living places, renovating and enriching the library, the computer room and the sport facilities and organising and executing a well designed programme of educational and cultural activities, building the new facilities on the adjacent land offered by the CIUP (see later), the Maison de l’Inde can indeed live up to the expectations of the founding fathers as indicated above. During the last five years significant improvements have been achieved in respect of physical facilities (see previous reports and the present one). The highly appreciative efforts of the volunteer Cultural Attaché have made the Maison de l’Inde a concrete centre for cultural activities, hence giving a boost to cultural exchange and knowledge. Its location with a well connected network of public transport (enriched further with the tramway) in the most beautiful city of the world makes its potential much greater.

2 2. Activities undertaken since January 2000 to improve the image of the Maison

Since January, 2000 the new Direction has taken initiatives to promote activities related to Indian culture and philosophy while keeping an eye on improving the security and the living conditions of the resident scholars. The following actions have been undertaken.

(i) The Residents’ Committee, former residents, other individuals and professional agencies in various fields of relevance have been mobilised to work on the welfare of the Maison.

(ii)The meeting hall has been enlarged by taking off the temporary partition. The hall has also been renovated with improved security and new decoration. This can accommodate two hundred people now.

(iii) A substantial amount of wall space at the lobby and at the Salle India Gandhi has been adapted for exhibitions of paintings

(iv) An Architect had been engaged to explore the future development of the Maison including its renovation.

(v) The institutions of higher education in Paris region have been contacted for better coordination of the study and residential aspects of the residents’ life.

(vi) An English booklet has been prepared to facilitate the residents’ living in Paris, in the Cité and at the Maison de l’Inde. All important announcements including the internal rules of the Maison are now been translated into English.

(vii) Bilingual receptionists have been appointed during the week ends employing the resident students on an “Earn while you learn scheme”.

(viii) Cable television facilities have been installed separately for Indian and international programmes. This has facilitated their remaining in touch with India

(ix) A hot drink distributing machine has been installed at the basement

(x) A separate computer room has been set up with five computers with free access to internet facilities for a limited time

(xi) Internet facilities have been installed free of charge, in the dining room of each floor for use of those who have personal laptops reducing the pressure on the computer room.

(xii) A well equipped two room apartment for families of senior scholars and a moderately equipped studio for couples have been added on the ground floor and at the basement respectively.

(xiii) Facilities have been made for playing cricket on campus

(xiv) 24 hours emergency service has been provided through a resident care taker

3 (xv) The Cultural Attaché is making her voluntary services available to the residents for improved social relations and for looking into their personal problems

(xvi) A web site has been created for the Maison . The address is: www.maisondelinde.com

(xvii) Toilet facilities have been added to the ground floor

(xviii)The luggage room and the archives have been renovated

(xix) A sculpture with the style of Ratnagiri Buddhist Cave has been installed at the entrance to the residential part of the Maison

(xx) WI FI system for internet has been installed for the whole Maison. The Director is appreciative of the assistance received from two resident students, Ujjwal Chaturvedi and Arnaud Loutrel and the care taker, Jahangeer for their work on the installation of the system. The system has been professionalsed with the involvement of France Telecom in 2008 (xxi) Resident Bapan Dutta has mounted a background of textile and paper on the stage of the Salle Indira Gandhi and added another art work at the entrance of the Salle.

(xxii) Shashibala and Kashyap of the Free University of Arts, Darbhanga, Bihar has donated one of their paintings also to the entrance of the Salle Indira Gandhi.

(xxiii) Mr Iqbal Malhotra has donated one of his paintings to decorate the stair case connecting Salle Indira Gandhi.

The following measures have been taken to improve the security conditions of the residents:

(i) The security conditions of the residents of the first floor (the female block) have been improved to follow specified norms

(ii) The receiving station of the electricity has been replaced by a new one to follow newly specified norms

(iii) A fire alarm has been installed for the whole building

(iv) The roof of the Salle Indira Gandhi has been made leak proof to stop the frequent leakage of water into residents’ rooms

(v) A video camera has been installed at the entrance to control the access of unauthorised visitors to the house

(vi) A magic eye has been installed on the door of each room to allow the residents to check on the identity of their visitors before letting them in

(vii) The broken glasses facing the principal stair case have been replaced

(viii) The façade has been renovated to give a better look of the Maison.

(ix) The main door of the entrance to the floors has been changed to follow security norms

4 (x) The windows and doors of all the rooms have been renovated to make them sound and fire proof

(xi) Mechanical ventilation of the building has been completed

(xii) The roof of the building has been made leak proof

(xiii) Security blocks have been installed on each floor

(xiv) The doors of the Salle Indira Gandhi have been replaced to make them fire proof.

(xv) The lift has been modernised with additional access to the residents of the first floor.

(xvi) The set of keys for the main entry points and all the rooms have been changed.

(xvii) Plan for evacuation of the building in case of fire have been posted on each floor.

(xviii) The basement substation has been rebuilt following security norms.

(xix) Several contracts have been signed with the relevant agencies for maintenance of security of the building following the latest French norms.

(xx) Some rooms and corridors and all the kitchens have been repainted

(xxi) One of the television rooms has been renovated

(xxii) The motors regulating the mix of hot and cold water of the bath rooms have been replaced.

(xxiii) To economise on the consumption of water and electricity the faucets and lamps of the rooms are being changed

It is to be noted that security norms for residence halls in France are changing regularly making it difficult to keep pace with them given financial and other constraints. However some measures are still being added soon following the latest norms

3. Managerial, Cultural and Other Activities undertaken during October- December, 2008

The Fall quarter from October to December with new admission and readmission of scholars, important cultural activities and the meeting of the Governing Board has been a very busy period for the Maison.

3.1 The Re-admission of Old Residents and Admission of the New and the Resident body

5 Admission and resident population

The Maison had this year: 65 new arrivals (as regular resident scholars and 44 had been readmitted: Total 109 regular residents. In addition there were 6 short-term visiting scholars.

Thus, on 2 December, 2008, the Maison had 115 residents. The 109 regular resident population is distributed as follows.

Gender:

Male: 80 Female: 29

Nationality:

Indian: 100 Others: 9 (from France, Greece, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxemburg, Morocco, and Tunisia) Types:

Students Masters: 67 Ph D: 27 Total: 94

Post Doctorates: 15 New admission: 65 Readmission: 44 Continuing Education (Formation Continue): 7 (included in the resident student figures above) Visiting Scholars: 6 (short term)

Total 115

In respect of financial situation of the residents the following picture emerges.

Enjoying financial assistance of some kind: 57 Residents on their own: 52

The resident population belongs to the following specialisations:

Management (24%), Engineering including Computer Science (20%), Science (33%) Human Sciences (19%), Art and Architecture (5 %)

Several points are to be noted.

We have more residents (115 – short term visiting scholars included - 4 less than last year) than we have capacity (108) compelling us to double some rooms. This has been necessary to accommodate the short-term exchange students staying for only three months under agreement of co-operation between French and Indian institutions of higher education. This has been done in consultation with the institutions under special agreements of co-operation. These rooms are under closer supervision of the Maison in respect of sanitation and study atmosphere. The measure is temporary until the end of the year. From 1 January, 2009 normal conditions will prevail. Indeed, on January 1st, 2009, already the number of residents came down to 105 (long term regular residents 100, short term 5).

In addition to the Maison de l’Inde we have more than 60 Indians in the other houses

6 (Cambodia, Japan, Maison des Arts et Métiers, Lucien Paye (African House), Maison des Provinces de France, Deutsch de la Meurthe, Franco-Britannique, Greece, Biermans-Lapôtre, and Maison des Industries Agro-Alimentaires)

During the last twelve month period from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008, 220 short term visitors have stayed in the Maison with duration varying from 1 day to less than three months. As noted above there were six of them on 2 December.. They come as research scholars, Visiting Professors, industrial consultants, and conference participants. Total number of such scholar days was 2030 based on the number of days each scholar stayed.

The popularity of the Maison has attracted many prestigious institutions of France to accommodate their scholars sometimes of highest level. College de France, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Egide, Edufrance, IEP, MSH, ENPC-MBA, ISEP and many CNRS laboratories come under this group.

In recent years the Maison is being requested by Institutions of Higher Education, Indian and French, to host academic programmes at the Maison.

The Indian Institute of Public management (IIPM) has held four workshops of variable duration on Management with more than 80 participants in each. The ENPC-MBA, Paris has organised a similar workshop with 50 senior international executives in November this year.

The resident population elected their committee of six residents on 28 October. Three of them are girls. One of them has been elected to the CIUP Governing Board by the entire student community of the CIUP. This is the second time in its history Maison de l’Inde is having this proud privilege. We congratulate Miss Lisa Bright to bring that prestige.

Resident Bharat Wootla received the Guy Deniélou thesis (PhD) award in the specialization of Biotechnology. The award is given with the financial aid from COTY, Conseil regional de Picardie and Agglomeration de la Region de Compiègne

3.2 The Meeting of the Governing Board

The meeting was held on 3 December with the Ambassador Mr Ranjan Mathai in the chair. The Chairman emphasised on the crucial role the Maison will have to play in a period of increased co-operation between India and France resulting from the visit of the French President to India In January and the visit of the Prime Minister of India to France in October. More than 25 MOUs have been signed. A Consortium of Universities of India and France has been set up.

The Board noted the improvements in material, human and aesthetic aspects of the Maison and thanked the staff for their good work. The Director mentioned about a plumbing accident in the house which resulted in some discomfort of the residents for a few days. Although this has been repaired now a critical diagnosis will be necessary for a long term solution which may involve a large investment. .

The Board offered special thanks for the cultural programmes of the Maison. Especially three events were mentioned by the Chairman held during the quarter which he personally attended: The Gandhi Anniversary on 2 October, the Decoration of the Cultural Attaché as “Chevalier

7 des Palmes Académiques” held on 13 October and the 40th anniversary of the Maison held on 14 November.

The Director submitted the provisional budget for the year 2009 which will be finalised in the spring session after the income and expenditure for the whole year of 2008 have been known. It is the sixth consecutive year the entire operational expenses of the Maison will be met from the income which is mostly from rents. As in last year the depreciation cost of capital is also proposed to be met from the same source. The rent of the residents has been kept the same as in last year. The Director assumes that careful management of resources will allow the budget to be balanced in spite of the increased cost of maintenance of additional facilities installed (a total of thirteen contracts of maintenance with a total cost of more than 30000 Euros have been established for maintenance of security) and other facilities, the increased cost of electricity and water. It was once again possible to balance the budget not only meeting the recurrent costs but also the cost of capital through depreciation (See Annex 4 for approval). The new capital costs include the installation of harmonised communication system with the CIUP.

The budget for 2009 has some additional elements for harmonisation of the electricity net work. The plumbing and electrical situations have also to be reviewed. This might involve a large sum .and require use of the reserve fund.

In respect of the restructuring of the Maison with the “FRUP” status the draft of CIUP General Regulations has been received which will now allow us to draft our Internal Rules. The Chairman asked the members to have a critical look at the CIUP draft to avoid any “red flag”. Our Statutes with FRUP status have already been prepared as reported earlier.

In respect of the extension of the Maison the Chairman was now ready to explore private funding and has appointed a task force with the DCM as Coordinator. Meanwhile during his home leave the Director met the Secretaries of Culture and HRD who, during their visits to Paris, expressed interest in the extension project in the early afternoon of 19th December and the Minister of External Affairs at night at his residence followed by another meeting with the Foreign Secretary in the morning of 20th . Both the Minister and the Foreign Secretary assured that the MEA and MHRD will share the entire cost. This means that we may postpone the follow up on private funding. The Director briefed the Ambassador about the results of the meetings when he met him in Delhi on 20th December. The Ambassador was visiting Delhi on an official mission.

The Members of the Governing Board have unanimously called upon the Director to accept another mandate of three years.

3.3 The Conference of Directors.

There were three meetings of the Conference of Directors, one in each month. The first meeting was held on 7 October. This welcomed the new Directors of the Fondation Biermans Lapotre, Maison du Liban and Maison du Mexique and the new head of Sports. The DG gave the time table for the revision of the CIUP statutes and the follow up by the houses. The President spoke about the problem of “brassage (inter-house exchange of residents)”. Maison de l’Inde is facing this problem as well.

The second conference was held on 6 November. This discussed the revision of the

8 composition of commissions, the harmonisation of electrical installations, new ideas on “brassage” and resident population statistics. India was one of the ten top countries sending residents to CIUP. The third meeting held on 2 December discussed further the constitution of the commissions, evolution of the restaurant facilities towards improvement and the functioning of the residents’ committees and their all night parties (“booms”).

Relation between the CIUP and the Maison:

The Department of “Patrimoine” has been involved in the improvement of the living conditions of the Maison through IDEX. The Department also helped in preparing the safety requirements in respect of electrical installations. The Déléguée Générale has met the Director in connection with the preparation of the Statutes and its follow up.

3.4 Personnel movement

Under the ‘Earn while you learn scheme’ bi-lingual Samarth Kothari, Paramita Chakrabarty and Ahuti Arya are now working at the reception desk during week-end and holidays.

3.5 Courses, workshops and cultural activities

The following activities were undertaken during the last quarter under the direction of the Cultural Attaché, Mrs Priti Sanyal

(i) Courses

The course in Spoken Hindi resumed from usual on Thursdays from 6 to 8 PM. Mrs Rachna Sharma continues to serve as the instructor. The course on Hatha Yoga has also resumed in September for each Tuesday from 7 PM to 9 PM by Professor Brigitte Martin of the Association “YAM”. Anusha Cherer has started a course on Bharatanatyam and Bollywood dance each Saturday from 10h30 to 12h00 during the current academic session.

(ii) Workshops/meetings:

On 2 October Mr Rajmohan Gandhi, the grand son of Mahatma Gandhi unveiled the bust of the Mahatma in the lobby of the Maison de l’Inde in presence of a distinguished gathering of the French and Indian community and spoke on the Mahatma on the occasion. Mr Marcel Pochard, President of the CIUP and Ambassador H E R Mathai also spoke on the occasion. The Ambassador hosted the refreshment offered at the end of the ceremony. The bust was a gift to the Maison de l’Inde from the Director and Mrs Sanyal.

Terre d’Eveils organised a two day meditation workshop of style “Vipassana” on 11 and 12 October.

On 13 October Cultural Attaché Mrs Priti Sanyal received the insignia of the Chevalier de Palmes Academiques on behalf of the Minister of National Education. by Inspector General Mr Jacques Treffel, President of the National Association of Palms Académiques (AMOPA) in the presence of HE Ambassador Ranjan Mathai.. Mme Poujade, President of the 14 th District of AMOPA gave the “felicitation” address.

Productions Marie Lise Labonté Inc organised a seminar on “Le Corps et la Cuirasse

9 Parentale” from 16 to 19 October.

Association VND organized a spiritual and ecological workshop on 25 October

Kakoli Sengupta organised a musical workshop on 26 October

Shrima Diffusions organised a spiritual workshop on 23 November

ENPC-MBA organised a four day workshop for an international group of senior executives from 24 to 26 November and 28 November.

Pierre Lessard organised a spiritual conference on 27 November

Institut de Recherches et Etudes en Therapies Transpersonnelles organised a 2-day conference on 4 and 5 December

Association Human Trip organised a conference on “Le Tourisme Equitable en Inde” on 6 December

(iii) Cultural Activities

B’Harmony presented Prem Joshua and his group in a musical concert on 3 October

On 5 October a painting of Mr Iqbal Malhotra entitled “OM” was unveiled by Ambassador /PR of India to UNESCO Ms Bhaswati Mukherjee. The flagship event autumn festival was celebrated as in earlier years in collaboration with Sammilani during four days from 5 to 8 October. The rituals were performed from 6 to 8 October in the morning from 10 AM to 12 noon and from 6 PM to 8 PM. The rest of the programme was as follows.

5 October 20h-22h:

Dance Nirubia Turai and Anamika Das; song: Pushpa Das and Agamoni songs: Madhubanti Sarkar

6 October 20h-22h Poetry Reading Priti Sanyal; Regional devotional songs Kakoli Sengupta, Bela Sen, Shantona Paulmier and Ruby Dutta.

7 October 20h-22h Stories from Indian Mythology: Sylvie Le Secq accompanied by Gérard Daubanes; Tagore songs: Sharmila Roy and her group; Kathak dance: Sharmila Sharma and her students Sylvie, Cynthia and Mariame and Sharmila Sharma accompanied by Kakoli Sengupta in vocal music and Anuvab Chaterjee in Tabla.

8 October 19h30-21h30

“Navarasa” demonstrated through dance theatre and music Group Swarna Surya (Soleil d’Or); Dance Odissi style performed by Devasmita Patnaik Artists were all accompanied by Anuvab Chatterjee in Tabla.

Rituals were performed by Professor Satyanarayan Chakrabarty. The Mahanavami “Homa”

10 was performed on 8 October by Swami Veetamohananda, President of the Ramakrishna Mission Vedantic Centre (CVR), Gretz.

Michelle Dehoki presented Udhav Shinde and Bert Cornelis on an “Ensemble de percussion de l’Inde du Nord “accompanied by Sitar on 31 October.

Diwali (Fête des Lumières) was celebrated on 2 November from 19h30 onwards with a cultural programme offered by MEHFIL with Megha Jagawat, Kamal Kant, Ajay Rathore, Ramesh Meena and Koshal Kant with Nicolas Gegout as the presentator. The programme was followed by a light dinner and fireworks. The dinner was attended by 300 people.

The 40th anniversary of the Maison de l’Inde was celebrated on 14 November the birth day of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. The programmes consisted of the national anthem, welcome address of the Director, the opening statement by the President of the CIUP, M Marcel Pochard, the speeches by the first Director of the Maison de l’Inde M Pierre Riché, and former first batch resident of the Maison Mr Surinder Bhandari. Ambassador His Excellency Ranjan Mathai released the souvenir volume commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Maison and spoke at his closing address about the scientific achievement of India, especially in space research and the role the Maison plays in promoting Indo- French collaboration. At the end, Devasmita Pattanaik performed Kathak style dance to entertain more than 150 visitors to the occasion which was concluded by refreshment.

Association VND Sahaja Yoga organised a cultural function with Sharmila Sharma offering dance in “Kathak “style on 22 November.

The terrorist attack in Mumbai was condemned in a meeting organised at the Maison on 27 November followed by a condolence gathering of solidarity for the victims at Place Trocadero on 4 December.

The Maison de l’Inde organised jointly with the Association for Human Development (AIDH) the International Children’s Day on 30 November. The AIDH organised a rich cultural programme of children’s games, quiz, yoga, dance and music. The Maison gives a prize to the best school student selected by a Jury. The Chief Guest was Mr Christian Petit a distinguished social worker, “Indophile” and writer.

The residents celebrated Christmas with a decorated house and weeklong Carol music and Christmas cake on the Christmas Eve. Professor Karl Poulsen, Director of the Danish House was the Guest of Honour.

3.6 The Cine Club:

The following films were projected during the quarter under the direction of resident Anshul Gupta: Baran, Blue Velvet, Cyrano de Bergerac and Old Boy.

3.7 Other Activities :

The Director travelled to Durban, South Africa from 16 to 18 October to attend the Governing Board meeting of the UNESCO International Institute for capacity Building in Africa as its Vice Chairman, to Kampala, Uganda from 15 to 20 November to act as a resource person in a

11 UNESCO-IIEP workshop on Capacity Building in Higher Education Management and to India on annual home leave from 18 December to 12 January. During the period he lectured on Impact of Globalisation on Higher Education and the Changing Teachers’ Role at the Vivekananda University in Belur, West Bengal on 23 December and on Education for Peace and Human Unity, a UNESCO supported programme at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata on 30 December

4. Conclusion:

The Director would like to thank the officials of the Indian Embassy and the CIUP, the Members of the Governing Board, his colleagues of the Conference of Directors, the Cultural Attaché Priti Sanyal, the personnel and all the friends of the Maison for their help in its management. He wishes for all the readers, their families and friends a prosperous, peaceful and satisfying 2009 with excellent health.

In conclusion, the Director would like to wish all the readers a comfortable winter.

Circulated by Dr Bikas C Sanyal Director, Maison de l’Inde 7r Boulevard Jourdan, 75014 Paris Phone: 01 5380 7800, Fax : 01 5380 7925 E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] Website: www.maisondelinde.com (The website is currently under repair and will resume functioning soon)

12